How to Disclose a Brand Deal on Posts, Stories, Video and Live (+ a 6-Point Checklist)

A platform's built-in disclosure tool, used alone, can fail the FTC's test. In one of the FTC's own examples, an influencer used only that tool. The text was small and white on a light image. It competed with other text the influencer put on the image. The post was visible for five seconds. The FTC calls that easy to miss and not clear and conspicuous.

So here's the short answer. Put the disclosure right with the endorsement, and say what the connection is in plain words. "Ad" and "sponsored" are often enough, as long as you put them where they're hard to miss.

Where to put it, by format

The FTC's test is "clear and conspicuous." That just means hard to miss and easy for ordinary people to understand.

For any post, the disclosure goes with the endorsement itself. The FTC says it's likely to get missed if it only sits on your profile page, at the end of a post or video, or behind a "more" click. It also says not to mix it into a group of hashtags or links. So put it at the start of your caption, then check your post preview. Can you see it without tapping "more"? If not, move it up.

For pictures and Stories, put the disclosure on top of the picture. Give people enough time to notice and read it, and make it stand out from other text and images. Size, contrast, location and time on screen all matter.

For video, match the disclosure to the claim. If the claim is shown, you need at least a visual disclosure. If it's spoken, you need at least a spoken one. If you both show and say it, do both. A disclosure that's shown and spoken together is more likely to be clear and conspicuous. Put it in the video itself, not just the description. Some people watch without sound and others miss words on screen, so doing both covers more viewers.

For live, repeat the disclosure every so often. Anyone who catches only part of the stream will still see it.

And don't assume the platform's built-in tool is enough. The FTC says to consider using it on top of your own good disclosure.

What to write

Instead of	Write
"sp," "spon," or "collab"	"Ad" or "Sponsored"
"thanks" alone	"Thanks to the brand for the free product I received" (use the brand's real name and what you actually received, and use this only if that is the whole connection)
"ambassador" alone	"Ad: I'm a paid ambassador for this brand" (use "paid" only if you are paid; otherwise name the real connection)
"Ad" buried in a hashtag cluster	"Ad" next to the endorsement, outside the hashtag group
A disclosure in a different language from the post	The disclosure in the same language as the endorsement

The FTC calls the short forms in the first row vague or confusing.

Check before you post

1. Is there a connection that could change how people weigh your post, and that your audience would not expect?
2. Is the disclosure at the endorsement?
3. Is it visible without tapping "more"?
4. Is it in plain words?
5. Is it in the same language as the endorsement?
6. For video or live: is it shown if the claim is shown, spoken if the claim is spoken, and repeated during a live stream?

What counts as a material connection

A connection needs disclosing when it might affect how much weight or credibility people give your endorsement, and your audience wouldn't reasonably expect it. That can be a business, family or personal relationship, payment, free or discounted products (even if the brand doesn't require a post in return), early access to a product, or the chance to win a prize. If a connection is too minor to change how people see the endorsement, it may not matter.

You don't have to explain the whole deal. The disclosure needs to make the nature of the connection clear. It doesn't need every detail. And if you bought the thing yourself and have no deal or other connection with the brand, you don't need a "not sponsored" note.

Keep the endorsement honest

A disclosure doesn't fix a dishonest post. An endorsement has to reflect what you really think and what you actually found or experienced. If a post says you use a product, you have to really be a user when you post it.

In the FTC's words: if you're paid to talk about a product and thought it was terrible, you can't say it's terrific. You also can't make up claims that would need proof the brand doesn't have.

Who arranged the deal doesn't change it

If someone else set up the deal, the disclosure still belongs on your post. The FTC says you can be held responsible if you don't disclose a connection to the brand that your audience wouldn't expect.

Ad agencies and other go-betweens can be held responsible too, for example if they hire and direct creators who skip a disclosure they needed. So responsibility can be shared, but it doesn't move off your post. The connection to disclose is still the one between you and the brand.

More creator guides: https://usesnippet.app/blog

Sources

• FTC Endorsement Guides: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-255
• FTC, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers